While putting together an Accurail kit, I scratched the outside shell with the tweezers I was using to pry it open. For some stupid reason, I tried to get at it with my fingernail which only made it worse. It’s not too noticeable, but now that I know it’s there, I can’t unsee it.
So, without removing any paint or any of the cast-on details, is there a way I can minimize the scratches or round them out?
A photo would be VERY helpful.
For scratches on plastic surfaces that are not deep and/or gouged, I wet-sand them with 3M Wet/Dry sandpaper.
Depending on the type and depth of the scratches, I’ll start with 600 to 800 grit, then progress to 1000 grit, 1500 grit, and finish with 2000 grit.
Wet-sanding should be performed in a straight line pattern. For criss crossed scratches, I’ll sand in a letter “+” pattern. Never in a circular motion. After wet-sanding, the resulting surface is usually smooth, with the scratches gone.
Next, I follow up with a mild strength rubbing or polishing compound on a clean, soft cotton cloth. The results are normally very good with some gloss on the treated area.
For surfaces that were originally glossy, I buff out with an automotive liquid glaze to bring back the full gloss.
But, respectfully, without photos being of assistance is a “best guess” scenario here.
Did you scratch through the paint? If so polishing isn’t going to make that go away.
Without seeing what we are talking about, I would suggest weathering.
i can’t seem to upload the photo from my phone, so I’ll try to upload it from a computer tomorrow morning. My apologies
Another option is fill the scratches with primer, sanding the primer should leave the scratches filled. Then repaint.
Have you considered using a photo hosting website? There are several that are free.
Hi Mjorstad,
Posting a photo to the forums is a bit tedious. You have to use a photo hosting site like Imgur to store your photos. If you need it, there is a detailed explanation of how to post photos at the beginning of the General Discussion forum.
Good luck with fixing the scratch.
Dave
Or…you could purchase the identical or similar Accurail kit, replace the shell with the unscratched one, and be done with it.
I just received a Intermoutain 8K gal tank car kit that came with a small, crescent-shaped scuff mark on top of the tank. I’m just going to live with it and look at it as a blemish in the paint due to poor surface prep at the RR’s paint shop.
Tom
Of course, cars get beat up all the time and if a repair is warranted torches are used to burn out the bad sections, plates welded in and paint patched up with whatever is handy.
I would suggest getting some Microscale “trim film” in a close enough color and cut a piece to make it look like a paint patch. Put a few others on the car so that one doesn’t look so lonely.
Somebody put two “scratches” on this car:
Trim film is also handy to “paint out” data when a car gets reweighed and restenciled. The patch never matches the original color.
Cheers, Ed
You might be able to hide the scratch by simply painting over it. Brush paint with a color that matches the car. Even if the paint doesn’t match too closely it can look like the shop has painted over a repaired spot.
Weathering.
A similar situation happened to me (a loco bought on ebay, was not “new” as advertized…). I went to the craft store, bought 2-3 bottles of craft paint that was pretty close. I painted three samples on stirring sticks, let it dry, and matched the closest color based on that. To paint, you can use a brush, and just wipe the excess paint off. Weathering also helps.
Simon
Kinda shooting in the dark without a pic, but I’d be tempted to go the opposite way - emphasize the scratch when weathering the car. Put a little rust colored paint over it and then wipe it off so the rust color stays in the scratch. Real cars can get pretty beat up.
If the scratch is a gouge ‘through’ the paint, as I think it may be, he might carefully lay good matching paint to fill the depth, let it dry thoroughly, then start with the very fine ‘paint finishing’ grits to blend and shape the new paint to the raised painted edges.
If he still can’t stand the resulting raised feature he’ll have to carefully sand any raised area down and paint over the smoothed area – then sand the area with very fine grit to match surfaces. Then shoot the whole side with clear or Dullcote…
Sorry for the wait all… here’s the photo. You can see that the worst of it is just next to the door; paint was not really removed except for a small spot, but it’s very evident where my fingernails made things worse. [#oops]
I would, the only problem being that this particular kit is limited-edition and not easy to find. I’ll probably buy more cars for ease of mind, but for now this (and its twin I bought with it) are all I have.
No picture yet… and I’ll bet if you post the “URL” using the little ‘chain’ tool it will display as pointing to a local or shared filename…
It has to be an URL actively hosted on an accessible server to ‘work’. Kalmbach intentionally does not allow upload or inline embedding – think of the potential DMCA risks alone!
I read that sometimes, having a scratch on a car makes it loosk realistic. What do they look like?
It’s also not one thing that many add.
Here is what I suggest for the scratch, sight unseen, if you have or can find a “scratch brush” (works sort of like a retractable pencil) that has fiberglass that comes out. At one time these were called fiberglass erasers.
I have found the fiberglass scratch brush is useful for removing the shiny spots that result from plastic cement getting on the surface of a model, and it should also rather gently make the scratch less obvious looking. There is likely always to be a mar on the surface there. Making it an opportunity for some weathering is a good idea.
I do not know if you have buy a fiberglass scratchbrush as a separate item. Mine came in a set of three: brass strands, steel strands, and fiberglass. All have their uses in model railroading, from prepping the sides of rail for soldering (brass scratchbrush) to creating the parallel horizontal scratches that result from sliding boxcar doors (the steel scratchbrush).
I wrote about scratchbrushes in my Frugal Modeler column in the NMRA Midwest Region Waybill magazine, found here:
http://www.mwr-nmra.org/mwr2016/mwr-images/waybillfiles/waybill2019fall.pdf
Dave Nelson
Alright all, third time’s the charm I hope. Linked it because attaching it wouldn’t work. Here’s the photo:
Absurd that they don’t have a way to upload a file or upload from mobile, most other forums elsewhere have this feature. Regardless, appreciate the continued support from everyone while waiting on me
They probably do, but it’ll be kewl mystery-meat navigation from cryptic icon ‘menus’, probably impossible to figure out unless you’re a gamer.
The simplest thing to do with about 98% of that scratch is to buff it and the surrounding car side to the same finish-- I wonder if a Magic Eraser lightly applied has the right fineness and tolerance for relatively soft material. In the picture that looks mostly like a scuff, not a scratch. Work in the direction of the boards, I think. There might be enough integrity in the paint film to let it be smoothed out even if it has ‘delaminated’ some from the plastic…
You will need to fill and polish down that divot you made. Only the barest speck of paint goes in it, but repeated layers only in the hole might build it up to level. A hobo chalk scrawl in unfixed pastel might cover the spot if it still snags your eye.
The thing about a fiberglass scratch brush on paint over plastic is that it is not compliant; you’ll go from not enough cutting to seeing score lines with only slight additional touch. If you can control it in feathering, it might be a good solution, but be prepared to do the whole car side around the lettering to get the fine surface reflectivity to match.